by Sadie Moss
But I was wrong.
Now I am.
There were two parts of me missing, and as Echo and Paris complete the circle that seems to connect the four of us, desire blooms low in my belly.
I want them.
All of them.
9
I don’t voice my thoughts aloud, but the way I shamelessly rub my ass against the two men behind me, arching into their touch even as I kiss Callum harder… it tells them more than words ever could.
They don’t deny me.
Callum’s hands skate over my hips as Echo slides one large palm over my shoulder and down my chest, slipping his hand inside the bodice of my dress and catching my nipple between his fingers. The sharp zing of sensation makes me open my mouth on a gasp, and the burly warrior in front of me takes the opportunity to deepen our kiss even more.
Hands are everywhere, and I lose myself in the sensation as all three men work together, loosening the bodice of my dress before tugging it down, letting it fall in a pile of fabric at my feet. Fingers hook the edges of my panties, and then those are gone as well, and there’s nothing but cool air and warm bodies touching mine.
My nipples draw into hard buds at the chill in the cabin that the crackling fire can’t quite banish. It’s a delicious contrast to the heat raging through my veins, and when Callum steps away from me, I watch him with hooded eyes, leaning into the other two men’s touch.
Keeping his gaze locked on mine, Callum drops to his knees before me. I feel the tickle of his breath against the soft curls between my legs, and I tug my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down hard in anticipation.
“You taste so sweet, Sage,” he murmurs, a devilish gleam in his green eyes as he looks up at me through thick lashes.
When he presses a kiss to the place where my leg meets my torso, a small noise escapes me. I lean against Echo and Paris for support, letting them take more of my weight as my knees threaten to buckle.
But instead of taking some of my weight, they take all of it.
In a movement so swift it makes me dizzy, Echo and Paris each wrap an arm around my back, lifting me easily in the air. At the same moment, Callum grabs the backs of my thighs and wraps my legs around his neck.
The action puts his mouth right at the spot where I need him most, and before I can even process the fact that I’m being held aloft by the three men, he nuzzles his face against the apex of my thighs and lashes his tongue against my clit.
My body jerks in their hold as pleasure crashes through me like bolts of lightning striking my body. “Oh, farse!”
I swear I can hear Callum chuckle. Or maybe I just feel the vibration of it against my core as he continues to lap at me with hungry ferocity.
My arms wrap around Echo’s and Paris’s shoulders, holding on tightly. Echo’s hand palms one of my breasts, kneading the sensitive flesh as I turn my head to kiss Paris, my tongue tangling with his.
I feel like I’m floating—which, in a way, I guess I am—as if I’ve suddenly gone weightless and gravity no longer has a hold on me.
My trust in these three men is so complete that it never once occurs to me that they could drop me, even as I twist and writhe in their grasp, trying to ride out the pleasure raging through me. My eyelids drop shut, and I find myself kissing Echo as Paris drops his head to brush his lips over my upper chest.
It strikes me in a sudden rush how natural it feels to be with all of them like this. How every step I’ve taken with each one of them, separately and together, has led us to this moment.
This farsing perfect moment.
My hips undulate against the quick rhythm of Callum’s tongue, and when I come hard on his face, all three men support me through it, holding me and kissing me and worshipping me as stars dance behind my eyelids and my world flies apart.
As the tension begins to drain from me, my body going limp in their hold, I break away from Echo’s kiss and blink my eyes open. Callum still has his large hands wrapped around my thighs, holding me just where he wants me.
He presses a tender kiss to my swollen core, a slow smile curving his lips as he tilts his head to look up at me. “So sweet.”
His lips are wet with my arousal, and when his tongue darts out to taste them, I shudder in the men’s grasp.
Paris chuckles, the sound as smooth and decadent as crushed velvet. “Do you want more, little soul?”
“Yes.”
I speak so quickly and emphatically that all three men laugh, and I grin like an idiot as Callum gently unwinds my legs from around his neck, setting my feet back on the floor.
The men quickly disrobe, and I watch with greedy eyes, devouring the sight of their muscled forms and lightly tanned skin.
One of them keeps a hand on me at all times, steadying me, and when they’re all as naked as I am, Paris’s arms wrap around me from behind. I expect him to carry me toward the bed. But instead, he walks backward and sinks into a chair near the fire.
My back is still pressed to his front, so I end up on his lap facing away from him. His bare chest is warm and smooth, and I can feel the hard length of his cock digging into my ass. I shift my weight a little, moving against it, and he lets out a tortured sound.
“Look at them, Sage,” he murmurs in my ear, nipping at my earlobe. One of his large hands catches my chin, angling my head so that my gaze lands on his two brothers. Callum and Echo stand before us, cocks jutting out as their attention rakes over my entire body. “Do you see what you do to them?”
His voice is pure sex, and I let it guide me as I stare shamelessly at the two messengers. They’re hard, their cocks a slightly different color than the rest of their skin, and as I watch, Callum fists himself, drawing his hand up and down his shaft. Echo mirrors the movement, and my breath catches in my throat.
I’ve seen Callum do this once before—when I was an illicit spy, a voyeur to his desperate release.
Now both men meet my gaze as they stroke themselves, inviting me in, letting me be a part of their pleasure.
“Do you see how much they need you? How much they want you?” Paris’s words slip into my ear like honey, making flames lick through my body. “I want you just as much. You own us, Sage. Body and soul. Heart and mind.”
As he speaks, he grasps my hips, lifting me slightly on his lap. I’ve never done anything in quite this position before, but I understand what he wants immediately, and I reach down between us, wrapping my fingers around his cock and lining him up with my entrance. His skin is smooth beneath my fingertips, and a vein pulses lightly along the top of his shaft.
When I sink down onto his length, all four of us let out our breath, a collective sigh of relief filling the room. Echo’s gaze drops to the place where Paris impales me before running up the length of my body to watch my breasts bounce slightly as I begin to move up and down.
The dark-haired messenger grips himself more tightly, matching the rhythm of his fist to the movement of my body as I ride his brother. I can’t stop staring at Echo and Callum, entranced by everything about the sight before me.
Their muscles bunch and contract as they stroke themselves, the hard planes of their stomachs tensing as their hips pulse forward slightly. They’re beautiful. Raw. Powerful.
But more than the breathtaking sight of their bodies, it’s the expression they both wear that makes heat build inside me.
They look ravenous.
Awed.
They’re watching me as if I’m the most incredible thing they’ve ever seen, as if they could never get enough.
My legs rest on the chair on either side of Paris, knees bent. He’s got one arm looped around my waist, helping me stay steady as we move together. Trusting him to hold me up, I lean forward a little, reaching a hand out toward Echo.
His eyes flare wide, a new flash of heat blossoming in the brown depths of his irises. But he doesn’t deny me what I want, stepping forward until he’s within my reach.
Paris’s free hand falls to my hip, and his thrusts slow, becom
ing even and deep.
My fingertips brush over the tip of Echo’s cock, and he lets out a choked noise. His chest rising and falling fast, he unwraps his hand from around his shaft, allowing my own to take its place. I circle my fingers and thumb around it tentatively, feeling it jerk slightly in my grasp.
Arousal spikes in my veins, and I unconsciously clench harder around Paris as I move my small fist up and down Echo’s length.
He groans, a sound of both pleasure and agony, his nostrils flaring as he watches me stroke him. All the men are watching. I can feel their hot gazes on me, a dozen times more intense than the warmth of the fire.
I’ve only ever touched these three men like this, and even then, it was usually brief. But tonight, I take my time exploring him, enjoying the feel of his thick, heavy cock in my hand.
Callum’s fist is still wrapped around his own shaft, and I’m filled with a sudden urge to touch him too.
But I want more.
The fierce desire coursing through me gives me confidence, and I lean forward a little more, trusting Paris to keep me from falling on my face. He does, holding onto my hips as he buries himself inside me completely, no longer thrusting at all. I can feel his cock pulse inside me, letting me know how aroused he is.
Good. Me too.
My tongue darts out to wet my lips as Callum takes a step closer to me. He grips his shaft close to the base as I run the flat of my tongue over the smooth, rounded tip. There’s a small slit at the end, and when the tip of my tongue glides over it, a salty essence explodes on my taste buds.
He grunts, the deep sound sending a shiver down my spine, and I run my tongue over him again, loving the way my delicate exploration of him seems to be driving him crazy.
With one hand still wrapped around Echo and the other braced on Paris’s knee to steady myself, I swirl my tongue over Callum’s cock, first in one direction, then the other. Then I wrap my lips all the way around him, taking him into my mouth. I feel him pulse against my tongue as I suck gently, swallowing more of that salty taste.
It’s good.
I like it.
I like all of this so much that it feels like my skin is on fire, my body bursting with need as my hand works up and down Echo’s shaft in deliberate strokes.
Tension is gathering in all three men. I can feel it all around me, like a bowstring pulled tight. My inner walls tighten around Paris, and he lets out a choked sound, his fingers digging into my hips. Callum groans again, and when I circle my tongue around his tip, his hips jerk forward of their own accord.
“Farse. I can’t hold on anymore, Sage. I can’t—”
Paris doesn’t even have to finish the sentence. I can feel exactly what his words mean. I release Callum from my mouth a second before Paris pulls me upright again, plastering my upper body against his chest as he pulses up into me hard and fast from below.
One of the hands that was holding my hips shifts, the pads of two of his fingers settling on my clit in a blur of motion.
And then the bowstring snaps.
Callum and Echo stroke themselves hard and fast, and as Paris cries out his release, I feel my own pleasure spiral through me too.
Callum grunts, his fist moving faster as spurts of milky white cum spill over his fingers. Echo curses as he explodes too, his body shuddering until the tension finally drains from him.
My breath comes in short gasps as I rest against Paris’s chest, my knees still braced on the chair and his softening cock still buried inside me. We’re all sticky and sweaty, and we’ll have to clean ourselves up all over again if we want to be presentable for dinner.
But this was completely worth it.
Echo is gazing down at me with a dazed sort of awe on his face, as if he’s found himself in the presence of a goddess he never knew existed.
“Holy farse. You keep surprising me, little soul. You’re…” He shakes his head, seemingly unable to come up with the right words.
But when he leans down and kisses me, his lips both hungry and tender, I think I understand anyway.
10
Despite the grim situation that still plagues my home village, this dinner feels like a celebration.
We eat hot, spiced meat fresh off the boar’s carcass and wash it down with a dandelion tea one of the women made from mountain spring water. Even unsweetened, the tea makes me long for summer days and home.
For several hours, I don’t worry about Kaius or the third realm or even the black void of nothingness that we must skirt around to complete our journey. I simply enjoy good food, good company, and the smile on my mother’s face that promises everything will be all right.
Even my men loosen up and find themselves chatting with the townsfolk. As bizarre as it is to watch them grin and interact with people I’ve known my entire life, it’s also quite sweet. Especially when they step out onto the grass with Nolan and a few of the younger boys to teach them how to throw a proper punch.
With our bellies full and a fire heating up the cabin, we sleep curled together on the small cot. My night is dreamless, not plagued by worry or doubt as has become usual, and I feel more fresh and alert than I have in days when my eyes flutter open again.
Waking up alongside Callum, Echo, and Paris is quickly becoming my favorite part of my afterlife.
We leave without fanfare before the sun rises, sneaking off into the darkness before anyone knows we’re even awake. I said my final goodbyes to Mother and Nolan last night, and the last thing I need is another moment of weakness or more sad memories to carry with me back to the afterworld.
If I cling to the good time we had at dinner, and the happiness that suffused my village as they packed up the leftovers of the meal to split among themselves, I can carry that little bit of strength with me into whatever danger comes next.
It will be one more hope to cling to when the void stretches before me.
We need to be on earth for the next part of our plan, but I want to make sure there’s significant distance between the four of us and my village before we attempt to reach the third realm.
As we travel across the land with quick tugs at the weave, my stomach ties itself into a tight knot. I can’t speak for my companions, but I feel as if I’m going backward in time. As if I’m that scared human girl again, hurrying through the rainy, nighttime forest toward the ritual sacrifice altar.
At that point, I carried absolute certainty that I was making the right decision.
The pixies told me to sacrifice myself to Zelus to save my people, and I believed them whole-heartedly. I barely hesitated in my ritual, climbing onto the stone altar as if every step I’d taken in life had led me to that moment. To my destiny.
I was wrong, of course. That sacrifice led to a world of new trouble—and even led to war. What if sacrificing ourselves to reach the third realm is just as misguided a decision?
But what if this is where all that pain and suffering led? a voice inside me asks. You are the only one of this party who knows the ritual. You bring the knowledge necessary to make this happen. What if that’s not a coincidence?
I don’t know what’s worse—hoping I’m not making the wrong move now or entertaining the possibility that my personal sacrifice was never my choice to begin with.
That everything I’ve done was fated from the beginning.
As we make our way deep into the wilderness, past the place where we hunted yesterday, I feel a strange sense of urgency. We spent too long at my village, and Kaius’s plans are in motion all over this realm and beyond. How many people did I commit to death by accepting my mother’s plea to stay one more night?
Guilt weighs heavy on me as we let go of the weave, coming upon a thicket of bramble so furiously entwined it’s impassable. The tangle of thorny vines stretches high over our heads.
Callum brandishes his sword and swipes into the thicket. I wince, expecting the blade to get caught in the brambles, but he slices cleanly downward without a snag. Then he sheathes his weapon and grasps one edge of t
he sliced vines, shoving the thick plants aside like a curtain.
We enter a clearing. It’s as big and wide as the fairy clearing back home, though I know we’re dozens of miles from that place by now.
After we all pass through, Callum lets the bramble fall back into place, ensconcing us in the clearing. His slice is so clean, I can’t even tell where it is once the vines have settled back into their original position. This is as private and safe a place as we’re likely to find.
All three men turn to face me expectantly.
“What now?” Echo asks.
I chew on my lower lip. Of course, I assumed I would be in charge of this part. It was my idea, after all, and I have the ritual sacrifice experience.
But still… I hate to be the one telling my messengers to kill themselves.
“We should sit in a tight circle,” I instruct them, pointing at the ground. “Knee to knee. Put your prized objects in your laps.”
I sink to the ground and open my satchel, extracting the herbs and salt I took from my mother’s stores. She didn’t even question why I needed them, for which I am eternally grateful. Telling my mother I planned on killing myself a second time would’ve likely gotten me chained to her kitchen wall for my own good.
“Paris, can you make us a fire?” I ask as I bundle the herbs and begin to wrap twine around them.
He nods and moves quickly to gather firewood. I’ve never seen his handsome face so serious. Even in the aftermath of his torture in Kaius’s dungeon, when he was so battered and bruised it made my heart ache, he still had a bit of a wicked twinkle in his eye. He cracked jokes despite the pain. Now, though, the seriousness of our situation must be settling in.
I lay a salt circle around us, leaving an opening for Paris to return with his branches. Once he’s safely back in his spot, I close the circle with another shake of the salt canister. I shiver at the zing of magic closing on my skin.
Once Paris has the small fire lit between us, I dip the bundle of herbs into the flames and hold my breath as I wait for them to catch fire. I wave the bundle in the air to extinguish the flames and breathe lightly on the smoldering edge until delicate white tendrils of smoke waft up into the cool air.